God after 'the death of God' - Christianity in the Hermeneutics of Gianni Vattimo
20/03/21 11:15
God after the ‘death of God’ - Christianity in the Hermeneutics of Gianni Vattimo.
Evangelical Theological Society, Southern Regional Conference, Charleston Southern University, 2021.
The thesis of the paper is that faith in God is possible again, because, according to Vattimo, after Nietzsche and Heidegger, God can no longer be an absolute metaphysical structure of reality.
I will uphold this thesis by following these steps: 1) the announcement made by Nietzsche that God is dead means that there is no ultimate foundation for reality, 2) the announcement made by Heidegger about the end of metaphysics means that from now one we can experience Being as event towards which we are engaged as interpreters on the go, and by implication of these things 3) now we are left with the contingency and historical character of our existence in which truth is a historical message that is heard and towards which we are called to give an answer.
Introduction
Nietzsche and the death of God
Heidegger and the end of metaphysics
God, truth as historical message, and weak thought
Some critical historical remarks
You can watch the presentation of this paper here.
Evangelical Theological Society, Southern Regional Conference, Charleston Southern University, 2021.
The thesis of the paper is that faith in God is possible again, because, according to Vattimo, after Nietzsche and Heidegger, God can no longer be an absolute metaphysical structure of reality.
I will uphold this thesis by following these steps: 1) the announcement made by Nietzsche that God is dead means that there is no ultimate foundation for reality, 2) the announcement made by Heidegger about the end of metaphysics means that from now one we can experience Being as event towards which we are engaged as interpreters on the go, and by implication of these things 3) now we are left with the contingency and historical character of our existence in which truth is a historical message that is heard and towards which we are called to give an answer.
Introduction
Nietzsche and the death of God
Heidegger and the end of metaphysics
God, truth as historical message, and weak thought
Some critical historical remarks
You can watch the presentation of this paper here.
Comments
Happiness and External Goods in Nicomachean Ethics
31/12/19 11:56
Sabou, Sorin, Happiness and External Goods in Nicomachean Ethics (Pickwick Publications, 2019).
In this volume, Sorin Sabou explores the dependency of happiness on external goods in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Sabou defends the following thesis: the dependency of happiness on external goods, in EN, is interpreted in the light of its political self-sufficiency, and in the light of our political humanity; this dependency is of three kinds: (1) enhancing-instrumental, (2) constitutive, and (3) subsistent.
In this volume, Sorin Sabou explores the dependency of happiness on external goods in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Sabou defends the following thesis: the dependency of happiness on external goods, in EN, is interpreted in the light of its political self-sufficiency, and in the light of our political humanity; this dependency is of three kinds: (1) enhancing-instrumental, (2) constitutive, and (3) subsistent.
Happiness as Actuality in Nicomachean Ethics, An Overview
12/10/18 15:52
Sabou, Sorin. Happiness as Actuality in Nicomachean Ethics, An Overview (Pickwick Publications, 2018).
This is a study about the meaning of happiness [εὐδαιμονία] in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (EN). This study argues that εὐδαιμονία in EN means actuality, and it has to be interpreted through the lenses of two metaphors used by Aristotle in EN 1.7 1098a21 and 10.6 1176a30: the ‘perimeter of good’ and the ‘imprint of happiness’. To explain the meaning of happiness [εὐδαιμονία] Aristotle, first has to delineate the ‘perimeter of good’ of man, and he does that with the help of two criteria: the final end [τέλος] and the function of man [ἔργον ἀνθρώπου]. These two criteria are metaphysical concepts which describe the ‘good’ as the final metaphysical aim of every person, and the best every person can be. This metaphysical teleological aim is the ‘actuality of the soul’ according with excellence. This is the ‘perimeter’ within which Aristotle inquires about the good of man [εὐδαιμονία].
These two criteria of finality and function reach their completion in the activity of contemplation [θεώρια]. This activity is the activity of the ‘highest part of us,’ the intellect, and this is the complete εὐδαιμονία. This is how εὐδαιμονία is ‘blown’ into every human life who achieves actuality, which is the actuality of the rational intellect. These metaphors of ‘perimeter’ and ‘imprint’ are political and educational metaphors. They describe what happens in the city, and how people achieve their ultimate goal, εὐδαιμονία, which is their actuality.
This is a study about the meaning of happiness [εὐδαιμονία] in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (EN). This study argues that εὐδαιμονία in EN means actuality, and it has to be interpreted through the lenses of two metaphors used by Aristotle in EN 1.7 1098a21 and 10.6 1176a30: the ‘perimeter of good’ and the ‘imprint of happiness’. To explain the meaning of happiness [εὐδαιμονία] Aristotle, first has to delineate the ‘perimeter of good’ of man, and he does that with the help of two criteria: the final end [τέλος] and the function of man [ἔργον ἀνθρώπου]. These two criteria are metaphysical concepts which describe the ‘good’ as the final metaphysical aim of every person, and the best every person can be. This metaphysical teleological aim is the ‘actuality of the soul’ according with excellence. This is the ‘perimeter’ within which Aristotle inquires about the good of man [εὐδαιμονία].
These two criteria of finality and function reach their completion in the activity of contemplation [θεώρια]. This activity is the activity of the ‘highest part of us,’ the intellect, and this is the complete εὐδαιμονία. This is how εὐδαιμονία is ‘blown’ into every human life who achieves actuality, which is the actuality of the rational intellect. These metaphors of ‘perimeter’ and ‘imprint’ are political and educational metaphors. They describe what happens in the city, and how people achieve their ultimate goal, εὐδαιμονία, which is their actuality.
Reading the Holy Scripture
11/01/16 20:57
I refer to the Bible as The Holy Scripture. This means that the biblical writings have a divine origin, and were given to the Christian community of faith. The triune God has revealed himself to his people. Thus, the text of the Holy Scripture is revealed, sanctified, and inspired by the triune God, and it must be preserved and approached as part of God’s redemptive, self-revelation received by his people; God’s saving revelation leads to God’s covenantal communion with his people. The Holy Scripture must be always understood, on the one hand, in the light of origin, function and goal of God’s self-communication, and, on the other hand, in the light of its reception by the people of God. Thus, the Holy Scripture is a word of supreme dignity, legitimacy and effectiveness. Read more...
Essential Questions in Hermeneutics
04/12/15 16:40
(1) In interpretation should we look primarily for another's mind, maybe the original creative act? Should we seek to know the surrounding socio-historical circumstances of the author? Perhaps we should seek a dialogue with something that the author could not have foreseen, and something that his or her circumstances cannot control, namely an experience in which we ask the text questions and it asks of us.
(2) Does misunderstanding and radical difference come first in every experience? Or does a common accord, however slight, pre-exist, thereby enabling understanding?
(3) To what degree should we rely on methods, principles, or laws of understanding?
(4) What does it mean to cultivate a critical and reflective attitude? Is that mutually exclusive from methods? What is the proper role, if any, of practical wisdom and personal responsibility in hermeneutics?
(5) Is interpretation an objective or subjective act? Perhaps it is neither. Perhaps it is a play, an intersubjective accord, or maybe even something so fluid that we cannot really call it anything specific at all.
(6) Is there then a correct interpretation? Maybe we should concern ourselves with the best interpretation possible at that moment. Further still, perhaps we should reject the idea of a correct or best interpretation and seek instead merely to enjoy reading for its pleasure value alone, recognizing that there is no real transhistorical or transcultural truth involved.
(7) What is the proper role of hermeneutics in theological and biblical interpretation?
Stanley E. Porter; Jason C. Robinson (2011). Hermeneutics: An Introduction to Interpretive Theory. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. Kindle Edition.
(2) Does misunderstanding and radical difference come first in every experience? Or does a common accord, however slight, pre-exist, thereby enabling understanding?
(3) To what degree should we rely on methods, principles, or laws of understanding?
(4) What does it mean to cultivate a critical and reflective attitude? Is that mutually exclusive from methods? What is the proper role, if any, of practical wisdom and personal responsibility in hermeneutics?
(5) Is interpretation an objective or subjective act? Perhaps it is neither. Perhaps it is a play, an intersubjective accord, or maybe even something so fluid that we cannot really call it anything specific at all.
(6) Is there then a correct interpretation? Maybe we should concern ourselves with the best interpretation possible at that moment. Further still, perhaps we should reject the idea of a correct or best interpretation and seek instead merely to enjoy reading for its pleasure value alone, recognizing that there is no real transhistorical or transcultural truth involved.
(7) What is the proper role of hermeneutics in theological and biblical interpretation?
Stanley E. Porter; Jason C. Robinson (2011). Hermeneutics: An Introduction to Interpretive Theory. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Silence is a woman's glory
01/07/15 14:50
The title of this post is an exact quote from Aristotle's Politics 1.1260a. Aristotle himself quotes a poet. Here are his exact words: 'All classes must be deemed to have their special attributes; as the poet says of women, 'Silence is a woman's glory,' (γυναικὶ κόσμον ἡ σιγὴ φέρει) but this is not equally the glory of man.'
These ideas are part of the Athenian stock and used by Aristotle in his argument on the virtues in the state. He explores the differences and common ground between men, women, slaves in the larger context of the virtues of the ruler.
It can be seen that these affirmations are echoed and shared in what Paul writes several centuries later in 1 Corinthians 11:7 and 14:34. Phrases like 'the woman is the glory of man,' and 'they are not permitted to speak' are part of the similar stock of ideas peculiar to the hellenistic vision, about the life in the city/state, as we have it in Aristotle.
These ideas are part of the Athenian stock and used by Aristotle in his argument on the virtues in the state. He explores the differences and common ground between men, women, slaves in the larger context of the virtues of the ruler.
It can be seen that these affirmations are echoed and shared in what Paul writes several centuries later in 1 Corinthians 11:7 and 14:34. Phrases like 'the woman is the glory of man,' and 'they are not permitted to speak' are part of the similar stock of ideas peculiar to the hellenistic vision, about the life in the city/state, as we have it in Aristotle.
John Locke and the Moral Value of Toleration
11/06/15 15:56
SABOU, Sorin. ‘John Locke and the Moral Value of Toleration.’ Jurnal teologic Vol. 14, No. 1 (2015): 5-13.
Abstract: The concept of freedom of conscience is in the religious affairs and political affairs at the core of Locke's understanding of tolerance. He redefined the church and the state accordingly. Even the effects of the church's discipline, and the way the state's laws have to be conceived and implemented, are seen from the perspective of tolerance. I argue that tolerance is the main lens through which Locke understands the identity and the relationship of the two. He builds a society with tolerance in view. Tolerance is the attitude that offers the context for freedom and peace.
Abstract: The concept of freedom of conscience is in the religious affairs and political affairs at the core of Locke's understanding of tolerance. He redefined the church and the state accordingly. Even the effects of the church's discipline, and the way the state's laws have to be conceived and implemented, are seen from the perspective of tolerance. I argue that tolerance is the main lens through which Locke understands the identity and the relationship of the two. He builds a society with tolerance in view. Tolerance is the attitude that offers the context for freedom and peace.
Snippets of Modern Wisdom
10/06/15 18:33
SABOU, Sorin. ‘Snippets of Modern Wisdom.’ Jurnal teologic Vol 13, Nr 2 (2014): 5-27.
Abstract: These succinct snippets cover essential themes in the modern philosophy. The method is represented by Descartes, Bacon and to a certain extent Husserl. The existence of God as argued for by Descartes and the question of Being explored by Heidegger. The intention is to sketch them based on readings of primary texts. Even if the texts are short they are rich in content.
Abstract: These succinct snippets cover essential themes in the modern philosophy. The method is represented by Descartes, Bacon and to a certain extent Husserl. The existence of God as argued for by Descartes and the question of Being explored by Heidegger. The intention is to sketch them based on readings of primary texts. Even if the texts are short they are rich in content.
Human Nature and Moral Principles
08/06/15 19:52
SABOU, Sorin. ‘Human Nature and Moral Principles.’ Jurnal teologic Vol 13, Nr 1 (2014): 5-16.
Abstract: In broad general terms human nature matters to which moral principles we should endorse. Moral and political principles exist for the good of human persons. There is a link between our basic abilities as humans and the moral and political principles we endorse. Our basic abilities to live, love and choose should inform our judgments for preserving and fostering life, love and liberty.
Abstract: In broad general terms human nature matters to which moral principles we should endorse. Moral and political principles exist for the good of human persons. There is a link between our basic abilities as humans and the moral and political principles we endorse. Our basic abilities to live, love and choose should inform our judgments for preserving and fostering life, love and liberty.
Snippets of Ancient Wisdom - from the Milesian School to Augustine
06/06/15 11:54
SABOU, Sorin. "Snippets of Ancient Wisdom - from the Milesian School to Augustine." Jurnal teologic Vol 12, Nr 2 (2013): 24-36.
Abstract: These snippets of ancient wisdom are intended to offer an overview of major themes, methods, and contributions to knowledge in the areas of metaphysics, piety, ethics, knowledge and time. The masters like Thales, Anaximenes, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Augustine taught about these issues and here is a snapshot of their views.
Abstract: These snippets of ancient wisdom are intended to offer an overview of major themes, methods, and contributions to knowledge in the areas of metaphysics, piety, ethics, knowledge and time. The masters like Thales, Anaximenes, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Augustine taught about these issues and here is a snapshot of their views.
Berkeley, God and Instrumentalism
16/04/15 23:03
The role of Malebranche in understanding Berkeley. Malebranche, a follower of Descartes, very influential in France, is important in understanding Berkeley. Malebranche understands ‘what is it for one thing to cause another’ in terms of necessity; it must be, when A happens, B necessary follows. Why is this? Because the only real cause in universe is God, and God sustains the world by recreating it every instant (see Malebranche 1688, 1.10; 2.4; 3.5; 3.16).
Revised Occasionalism
Read more...Leibniz on God
06/03/15 09:27
The main outlook on God, by Leibniz, in his Discourse on Metaphysics, is given towards the end of his argument when he says that ‘we must think of God not only as the root cause of all substances and of all beings, but also as the leader of all persons or thinking substances, or as the absolute monarch of the most perfect city or republic - which is what the universe composed of the assembled totality of mind is’ (Leibniz 1686, 35). To this I have to add what he says at the beginning of his argument that ‘God is absolutely perfect being’ (Leibniz 1686, 1). The perfection of God applies to his power, knowledge, wisdom, and actions; they are of highest degree, he has them in ‘unlimited form’ (Leibniz 1686, 1). These three metaphors of ‘root cause’, ‘leader,’ and ‘absolute monarch’ give me the structure of the answer to the question ‘What is God?’ and the related terms of ‘all substances,’ ‘thinking substances,’ and ‘the most perfect city’ give me the elements of the answer to the second question of this assignment 'What philosophical problems is Leibniz working through his contemplation of God?'
What is God?
Read more...Hume on Justice
18/02/15 13:33
Hume says that ‘public utility is the sole origin of justice’ (Hume 1777, III.1), and that ‘the rules of equity and justice depend entirely on the particular state and condition in which men are placed’ (Hume 1777, III.1).
Justice and Well-Being
Read more...Berkeley on God
06/02/15 09:34
The role of God in Berkeley philosophy is that of the foundation of existence. Everything that exists, exists because exists in the mind of the Eternal Spirit/God. In Berkeley’s words this is expressed as follows: ‘All the bodies which compose the mighty frame of the world, have not any subsistence without a mind, that their being is to be perceived or known; that consequently so long as they are not actually perceived by me, or do not exist in my mind or that of any other created spirit, they must either have no existence at all, or else subsist in the mind of some Eternal Spirit’ (Berkeley 1710, I.6).
Perception, Reality and God
Read more...Berkeley and Locke on Human Knowledge
27/05/14 18:52
Experience and Knowledge
Locke argued that all our ideas have their origin in our experience. When we are born our mind is a blank slate (tabula rasa). Any experience is leaving an imprint on this slate (mind). When we experience anything through our senses our minds receive their perceptions. There is content in our mind because of our senses. Locke is famous for the following phrase: nihil in intellect quod prius non fuerit in sensu (there is nothing in the intellect that was not first in the senses) (cf. Moore 2011, 114).
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The Museum, Education and Worldviews
19/05/14 08:27
My own experience in visiting famous museums (such as National Gallery, London, Art Institute, Chicago, or National Museum of Art, Bucharest) thought me that the events organized there are at least of three kinds: historical overviews of art (based and limited on/to their collections), individual artist, and trend or school overview (Impressionism, Cubism, Expressionism, etc.). For me as a visitor it was helpful, but I never had the opportunity to see some event as that described by Gaskell around the painting done by Rubens (Gaskell 2003).
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Nussbaum's Two Levels of Human Nature
22/04/14 10:29
Nussbaum’s Level 1 of the Thick Vague Conception is presented as a story of what seems to be part of any life that we count as human life. The shape of the human form of life has the following aspects: mortality, the human body (hunger, thirst, need for shelter, sexual desire, mobility), capacity for pleasure and pain, cognitive capability (perceiving, imagining, thinking), early infant development, practical reason, affiliation with other human beings, relatedness to other species and to nature, humor and play, separateness. As this list is based on observation of human life across cultures and is able to integrate both the aspects of individuality and community of human life I agree with it. Read more...
Zangwill's Aesthetic Theory of Art
18/04/14 14:55
Zangwill builds his argument for an aesthetic theory of art by arguing that we need ‘an independent account of aesthetic properties’ (Zangwill 2002, 112). These properties can be delineated with reference to the central aesthetic properties of ‘beauty and ugliness’ (Zangwill 2002, 112). These properties are intrinsic and valuable (Zangwill 2000, 329), and they are artist related (Zangwill 2000, 330). He deals with the variety of types of art (avant-garde, narrative) and says that ‘works of art are necessarily things that have an aesthetic point’ (Zangwill 2002, 114) and then, that the ‘essential truth’ about the vast number of objects and events in the category of act is captured by the aesthetic approach (Zangwill 2002, 114). Read more...
Locke versus Hobbes
16/04/14 09:33
Locke identifies his difference from a Hobbist position in Essay III.5 when he asks why a man must keep his word? ‘Because God, who has the power of eternal life and death, requires it of us.’ To this question a Hobbist would answer ‘because the public requires it, and the Leviathan will punish you, if you do not.’ The authorities are different in situations like these: God as a judge, or the public as a judge. Read more...
Kukathas On Cultural Rights
15/04/14 13:13
Kukathas argues that we need to ‘reassert the fundamental importance of individual liberty or individual rights and question the idea that cultural minorities have collective rights’ (Kukathas 1992, 107). Groups matter but there is no need to ‘depart from the liberal language of individual rights to do justice to them’ (Kukathas 1992, 107). Kukathas argues for his thesis by focusing on the way are groups are formed. They are ‘not fixed and unchanging entities in the moral and political universe’ (Kukathas 1992, 110), their boundaries shift with the political context; their formation is ‘the product of environmental influences’ especially political institutions (Kukathas 1992, 111). Read more...
Hobbes On Bacon's Idols
11/03/14 05:52
Bacon’s Idols are referring to the way we use our minds; there are ‘four classes of idols that beset men’s minds’ (NO, 1.39): idols of the tribe, idols of the cave, idols of the market, idols of the theatre. Bacon does not use the term ‘idol’ in a religious sense (an image that represents a god), but simply as an image (from Greek eidolon).
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Formalism In The Philosophy of Art
01/03/14 12:00
Formalism in the philosophy of art says that ‘the properties in virtue of which an artwork is an artwork […] are formal in the sense of being a accessible by direct sensation alone’ (Dowling). We can go deeper in the area of aesthetics if we have two qualities: artistic sensibility and clear thinking (Bell, 261); the personal experience is central to this endeavor. Is there some quality common and peculiar to all objects that are able to provoke the ‘aesthetic emotion’? (Bell, 262) The existence of an artwork depends on this quality. Bell understands this quality as ‘significant form’ (Bell, 262). The variety of relations and combinations of lines and colors is called ‘significant form.’Read more...
Bacon's Scientific Method
19/02/14 20:57
Bacon’s scientific method, in his own words, is ‘hard in practice but easy to explain’ (Novum Organum, Preface). Bacon proposes ‘to establish degrees of certainty’ (NO, Preface) by starting from ‘sense-perception’ (NO, Preface). He is determined to reject ‘ways of thinking that track along after sensation’ (NO, Preface).Read more...
Banksy's Works
15/02/14 15:40
These days I searched for Banksy’s works and I liked most of them. They are a mixture of protest, innocence, sadness, hope, wanted love, anti establishment, satirical. I imagine that they are done in a hurry as this type of art is perceived by the authorities as vandalism, or to quote mayor Bloomberg as ‘a sign of decay.’ Read more...
Kant on Genius
13/02/14 18:04
Kant understands the genius under four main labels: a) a talent for art that takes the lead and determine the procedure, b) someone who has a definite concept of the product (understanding, representation, a relation of the imagination to the understanding), c) it display itself in the expression of aesthetic ideas containing a wealth of material for effecting that intention, and d) harmony of imagination and understanding of the law that points to an unsought and undesigned subjective finality.Read more...
Descartes's Method
05/02/14 12:09
The overall method of Descartes is a method of doubt. He dismisses knowledge derived from authority, senses, and reason (Watson, 2014). His demonstration is one of clarity and absolute certainty (Skirry). He is determined to bring any belief based on sensation into doubt because they might be a dream; mathematics included, because of the existence of an evil demon with supreme power of cunning about everything.Read more...
Hume on Objective and Subjective Taste
03/02/14 09:19
D. Hume works with the distinction between matters of fact and pronouncements of sentiment. The standards of taste should provide rules for ‘confirming one sentiment, and condemning another.’ Hume envisions the standard of taste as the consensus of true critics.
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What is Philosophy?
31/01/14 15:49
I will put together my answer following two major sources: Plato and Aristotle. The summary of these positions is as follows: Read more...
Existentialism
24/01/14 08:13
Existentialism is a philosophical theory characterized by a search for the meaning of existence/being. The norm of authenticity (Crowell, 2010) is the governing norm in this search. The considered aspects of existence are several: the problematic character of the human situation, the phenomena of this situation, the intersubjectivity that is inherent in existence, the general meaning of Being, and the therapeutic value of existential analysis (Abbagnano, 2014).Read more...
Ross on Duties
22/01/14 18:29
This is a summary on W. D. Ross' theory of prima facie duties.
When we try to determine what we ought to do there are several prima facie duties. A prima facie duty is a duty that is binding; you have to do it. The prima facie duties are fidelity (keeping promises and contracts), reparation (making up for injuries done to others), gratitude (being grateful for benefactions), non-injury (not to harm others), harm-prevention (to prevent harm to others), beneficence (doing good to others), self-improvement (to promote one's own good), and justice (distributing benefits and burdens fairly). Read more...
When we try to determine what we ought to do there are several prima facie duties. A prima facie duty is a duty that is binding; you have to do it. The prima facie duties are fidelity (keeping promises and contracts), reparation (making up for injuries done to others), gratitude (being grateful for benefactions), non-injury (not to harm others), harm-prevention (to prevent harm to others), beneficence (doing good to others), self-improvement (to promote one's own good), and justice (distributing benefits and burdens fairly). Read more...
Kohlberg an Gilligan on Moral Development
21/01/14 04:03
In L. Kohlberg's view the main focus is on the stages of intellectual development. He is indebted to Kant because assumes that our moral development is to be defined by the level of our intellect. If you know what is good you are motivated, by this very knowledge, to do what is good. In our daily life we sometimes use the phrase 'you know better' when we make an observation about someones actions/deeds. The stages of moral development are determined by intellectual development. Read more...
Levels of Moral Development
20/01/14 09:19
These observations made by K. Dabrowski are about the development of one's emotional dynamism. They show the improvement of our emotions and feelings. Good moral formation forms a morally good person. The main instrument of moral development is improvement of one's emotions.Read more...
Functionalism and Behaviorism
18/01/14 09:09
Functionalism in philosophy of mind can be understood as a sophisticated form of philosophical behaviorism. In Functionalism a thought is defined by a function it plays, whereas in Behaviorism a thought is defined by a set of behaviors and/or dispositions to behave. Read more...
Intentionality
17/01/14 17:20
Intentionality is a term used to describe the way of being directed upon an object. There are certain ways in which an individual may be said to have something as his object. Read more...
Phenomenalism
16/01/14 10:52
Phenomenalism is a philosophical theory of perception and the external world. Propositions about material objects are reducible to propositions about actual and possible sensations, or sense data, or appearances (EB, 2013). There is no distinction between independently existing physical objects and mind-dependent sense-data. To talk about any existing object is to talk about a collection of perceivable features localized in a particular portion of space-time (Stroll, 2013). The material things are permanent possibilities of sensation, of sense-data (BonJour, 2013).Read more...
Kant's Theory of Person
15/01/14 09:41
Kant's theory of person has two dimensions, one, on the side of metaphysics, and the other, on the side of rationality and human responsibility; reason is the core for both.Read more...
The Qualities of Perception
14/01/14 10:48
Locke and Berkeley on the qualities of perception
Because the mind we are born with is a blank slate (Locke), the knowledge we have come from the outside as perceptions. Locke tries to avoid the split between the mind and the world around us by introducing the distinction between primary and secondary qualities of perception. The primary qualities are the qualities of objective, extra-mental reality; the qualities of the object independent of who, or whether anyone is perceiving the object (shape, size, weight). These qualities are independent of perception. The secondary qualities are not properties of the object at all. They occur in the mind of the perceiver at the moment of perception and they endure only as long as the perception endures. They depend primarily on our senses (color, taste, smell). Read more...
Because the mind we are born with is a blank slate (Locke), the knowledge we have come from the outside as perceptions. Locke tries to avoid the split between the mind and the world around us by introducing the distinction between primary and secondary qualities of perception. The primary qualities are the qualities of objective, extra-mental reality; the qualities of the object independent of who, or whether anyone is perceiving the object (shape, size, weight). These qualities are independent of perception. The secondary qualities are not properties of the object at all. They occur in the mind of the perceiver at the moment of perception and they endure only as long as the perception endures. They depend primarily on our senses (color, taste, smell). Read more...
Materialism in Philosophy of Mind
13/01/14 07:36
In philosophy of mind materialism is pointing to the fact that our minds are entirely material. Even our sensations, images, perceptions, and emotions are only complicated forms of matter in motion (Shaffer, 2013).Read more...
Neutral Monism
11/01/14 07:49
Neutral monism are theories that hold that mind and body are not separate, distinct substances but are composed of the same sort of neutral 'stuff' (EB, 2013).
The neutral substance Spinoza refers to is God. Because of the limitations of human beings we can perceive the neutral substance only in terms of its material or mental attributes, but the neutral substance has an infinity of attributes, and that is why, he identifies it with God. It is this one infinite divine substance in which everything else has its finite being as a mode or affect.Read more...
The neutral substance Spinoza refers to is God. Because of the limitations of human beings we can perceive the neutral substance only in terms of its material or mental attributes, but the neutral substance has an infinity of attributes, and that is why, he identifies it with God. It is this one infinite divine substance in which everything else has its finite being as a mode or affect.Read more...
Free Will and Determinism
10/01/14 11:59
Most of the time the issues of free will and determinism are seen as opposites. The free will is understood in terms that are incompatible with determinism. If the will is free it can do whatever it wants even against the natural laws of the universe. For example the law of gravitation will make sure that when I jump up, I always come down, or if I travel in a circle I will arrive, after a while, in the same place. Even so, the free will is a valid concept/fact. There are layers of my life in which I can 'freely' move and think and act according to my will. This is not taking place in a perfect way, but still I have the real possibility of choice. The situation of life, the nature of my body and health, the laws of nature are facts that have a saying in the way I exercise my will.Read more...
Descartes - the 'evil demon' hypotheses
09/01/14 13:59
The hypothesis of the evil demon is imagined by Descartes. He imagines that there might be an evil deceiver who is constantly putting false ideas in his mind. Whatever he takes to be true is really false. This is so no matter how sure he is of it (Meditations I and II).Read more...
Lessons From the History of Ideas
14/12/13 23:50
The structure of this reflective précis is necessary historical; from the Milesian School to Francis Bacon it is a vast distance and a variety of interests and approaches. In a nutshell these are the main things I move forward with.
Test your hypotheses by observing natural forces and processes. After your research is done engage in an open search for knowledge that is intended to identify any possible confusion and errors. Read more...
Test your hypotheses by observing natural forces and processes. After your research is done engage in an open search for knowledge that is intended to identify any possible confusion and errors. Read more...
Francis Bacon and the Idols of the Mind
11/12/13 15:18
This aspect of Bacon’s thinking is about the way we use our minds. According to Bacon there are ‘four classes of idols that beset men’s minds’ (New Organon, 1.39; Russell 2009, 439). Bacon uses the term ‘idol’ not in a religious sense (an image that represents a god), but simply as an ‘image’ (from the Greek eidolon). The way he organizes them helps the reader to understand the way they hinder human’s mind. Bacon sees them in ‘classes’ and in this way points towards their complexity and particularities.
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Ockham's razor
21/11/13 12:03
Even if it is attributed to him, the affirmation ‘don’t multiply entities beyond necessity’ is not found in the surviving writings of William Ockham. He made use of it, even if he is not the first to do this (Durand de Saint-Pourcain used it before him). This concern for ‘ontological parsimony’ was characteristic for his work in the area metaphysics (Spade, Panaccio, 2011). This principle ‘gives precedence to simplicity’ (EB, 2013). Ockham used this ‘razor’ to dispense with relations, with efficient causality, with motion, with psychological powers, and with the presence of ideas in the mind of the Creator (cf. EB, 2013). For Ockham the ‘only true necessary entity is God’ (Spade, Panaccio, 2011). Read more...
Aquinas and the Existence of God
11/11/13 11:33
According to Aquinas, God’s existence ‘can be proved in five ways’ (Summa 1.2.3).
From the way in which he presents the first, it seems that he prefers it (‘the first and the most manifest way is…’ Summa 1.2.3). This first way is an ‘argument from motion.’ ‘Whatever is in motion is put in motion by another’ (Summa 1.2.3). This necessity of ‘another,’ and so on, cannot go on to infinity. ‘There would be no first mover, and no other mover’ (Summa 1.2.3). That is why, the first mover is a necessity. This first mover is ‘put in motion by no other’ (Summa 1.2.3). And this is God.Read more...
From the way in which he presents the first, it seems that he prefers it (‘the first and the most manifest way is…’ Summa 1.2.3). This first way is an ‘argument from motion.’ ‘Whatever is in motion is put in motion by another’ (Summa 1.2.3). This necessity of ‘another,’ and so on, cannot go on to infinity. ‘There would be no first mover, and no other mover’ (Summa 1.2.3). That is why, the first mover is a necessity. This first mover is ‘put in motion by no other’ (Summa 1.2.3). And this is God.Read more...
Augustine's Theory of Time
05/11/13 07:52
For Augustine the time itself is created by God: ‘there was no time before heaven and earth’ (Conf 11.13.15); there is no ‘then’ where there is no time. God is understood to exist in an ‘ever-present eternity’ (Conf 11.13.16; Russell, 2009) beyond time where his ‘today’ is eternity. To underlay the beginning of time and the distinction from eternity Augustine says that ’there was never a time when there was no time’ (Conf 11.13.16). In other words God is not coeternal with time (Conf 11.13.17).Read more...
Epicurus' Metaphysics
02/11/13 08:47
This is a reconstruct mainly from a poem (De rerum natura) by the disciple Lucretius in the last days of Roman republic (Clark, 1994).
The reality is seen in terms of ‘atoms and the void’ (Clark 1994). At this point Epicurus follows Democritus. These atoms are moving in the void (O’Keefe 2005). This movement, because of the weight of atoms, is mainly downward but randomly, also, sideways (O’Keefe 2005). These aspects of ‘weight’ and ‘swerve’ are modifications of Democritus understanding of atoms. Movement is possible because of the ‘void’ (the empty space). Read more...
The reality is seen in terms of ‘atoms and the void’ (Clark 1994). At this point Epicurus follows Democritus. These atoms are moving in the void (O’Keefe 2005). This movement, because of the weight of atoms, is mainly downward but randomly, also, sideways (O’Keefe 2005). These aspects of ‘weight’ and ‘swerve’ are modifications of Democritus understanding of atoms. Movement is possible because of the ‘void’ (the empty space). Read more...
Aristotle's Golden Mean Theory
25/10/13 08:49
The 'Golden Mean' theory is about intermediacy. Someone ought to choose 'not the excess nor the defect' (NE VI.1). Choosing what is equally removed from the two opposite is a 'just action' (NE V.5). Someones' activity has to be marked by this standard found 'between excess and defect' (NE VI.1) A virtue is 'a mean state,' (NE, 1106.3) 'a settled disposition of the mind' (NE, 1106.15) between two vices; it avoids to 'fall short of or exceed what is right' (NE, 1106.15).Read more...
Aristotle's Argument for God
18/10/13 08:39
The main observation made by Aristotle concerning God is related to the 'final cause'. He says that 'a final cause may exist among unchangeable entities.' (Metaphysics, XII.7) This final cause 'produces motion as being loved.' 'There is something which moves while itself unmoved, existing actually,' and this cannot be otherwise than it is. This first mover 'exists of necessity.' It is a first principle because 'its mode of being is good.' Its life is the best, 'thinking in itself' (see also Russell: 'God is pure thought'). The act of contemplation is what is most pleasant and best. God is 'a living being, eternal, most good.' Read more...
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
10/10/13 09:26
The Allegory of the Cave is a figure conceived by Plato to illustrate the way ‘how our nature is enlightened or unenlightened.’ Humanity is seen to be in an underground den having the legs and the necks chained; they cannot move and only see what is before them. Above and behind them there is a fire blazing at a distance. They see only their shadows, the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave. In a situation like this the truth for humanity is ‘nothing but the shadows of the images.’ Read more...
Plato's theory of forms
04/10/13 07:41
A General Overview
Plato’s theory of forms has several fundamental points of view: the difference between reality and appearance, and between knowledge and opinion. These points of view are related in that knowledge is at the level of reality, and opinion at the level of appearance.
Reality and knowledge are about Ideas or Forms. These are made by God, they are eternal and do not change. And appearance and opinion is about the world of the senses that is temporary and does change.Read more...
Plato’s theory of forms has several fundamental points of view: the difference between reality and appearance, and between knowledge and opinion. These points of view are related in that knowledge is at the level of reality, and opinion at the level of appearance.
Reality and knowledge are about Ideas or Forms. These are made by God, they are eternal and do not change. And appearance and opinion is about the world of the senses that is temporary and does change.Read more...